Suddenly It’s May

Dear Amanda,

How did it suddenly turn into May?

Tomorrow Gavin turns 15. I can’t believe he’s going to start learning to drive already! May the 4th be with us all as he gets behind the driver’s wheel. He’s grown several inches since you last saw him. I guess that’s the nature of teenage boys.

We’re all home, all the time and it’s definitely chaotic here. But let’s face it, I didn’t call my house Camp Chaos without good reason. Jon and I are now fully vaccinated and that’s allowed for some cautious socializing with other fully vaccinated people. It feels good to cook once again for other people. I’ve made a couple of Pavlova’s now and have been having a great time playing with different fillings and combinations. This one has a honey mousse, raspberry curd and fresh berries. It was DELICIOUS.

The new job is going well. I’m surrounded by Zoom colleagues that all love to travel. We’ve started sharing all our travel stories and dreams. The other part I really love, is it’s quite obvious that my colleagues all miss seeing each other and are genuinely looking forward to offices reopening. I can’t wait to fly to DC and meet the gang once the company approves travel again. In my adult life, this is the longest period of time I’ve gone without flying somewhere. I just want to go sit in an airport and people watch. With wine.

I finally got my haircut! I chopped off at least 6 inches and added bangs back in. It was fun to have an outing and go to the salon. My stylist has her own room. What do you think of the new ‘do? While you’ve been losing weight, I’ve managed to gain about 25 pounds. The mask, bangs and hair do a lovely job of hiding it all. All kidding aside, I have taken off about 10 of those COVID pounds and am slowly re-discovering a more svelte me. Side effects from my second vaccine killed my appetite, which helped some.

I don’t have a ton to report this letter. My life isn’t terribly exciting right this instant. Work, kids, food, being home, more being at home. Actually the highlight of my week was learning that one of my all time favorite fantasy book series is being produced into a television show (thank you Amazon) and I’m on a journey to re-read all 14 books of the Wheel of Time. If you’re getting bored, give it a go. There’s plenty of material.

I hope your turn for the vaccine comes swiftly and we can begin to make plans to see each other IRL. I miss your annual Florida visits far too much!

Stay healthy,

Stephanie